1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a terminal for making electrical connection between an electrical insulative cable and the crimp terminal by crimping an electrical insulative cable usable for, e.g., a low voltage cable for an automobile (AV).
2. Related Art
A hitherto known crimp terminal is constructed such that when an electrical insulative cable is connected to a connector terminal, the cable is press-fitted into a slot formed on the crimp terminal, causing a part of the sheath provided around a cable conductor to be peeled away from the cable conductor, whereby the cable conductor is electrically connected to the crimp terminal. A typical conventional crimp terminal of the foregoing type is disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Utility Model Publication sho 60-142463.
In detail, as shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, the conventional crimp terminal 1 is constructed such that a sheathed cable 11 is connected to the crimp terminal 1 formed by punching a sheet of electrical conductive metallic plate while the cramp terminal 1 is firmly fitted into a housing 10. In addition, an opponent post type terminal (not shown) is connected to a cylindrical electrical connecting portion 9 of the crimp terminal 1 by fitting the post type terminal into the electrical connecting portion 9.
The structure of the conventional crimp terminal 1 will be described in more detail below. A main body of the cramp terminal 1 is constructed of a base plate 2 of a sheet of electrical conductive metallic material and a pair of side plates 3 standing upright from the opposite sides of the base plate 2 by bending the latter. In addition, the crimp terminal 1 includes a pair of crimping blades 4 which are formed by upwardly bending the base plate 2 while a central part 2a of the latter is left unchanged. A U-shaped slot 5 is formed through each cramping blade 4 with the uppermost end of the latter kept opened in the upward direction so that an electrical insulative cable 11 is press-fitted into the slots 5, causing a sheath of the cable 11 to be peeled away from a cable conductor 13 of the electrical insulative cable 11, whereby the cable conductor 13 of the electrical insulative cable 11 comes in contact with the cramp terminal 1 via the crimping blades 4 to make electrical connection therebetween. To prevent the crimping blades 4 from being tilted in the longitudinal direction of the cable 11 during the press-fitting operation, tab pieces 6 extending outward of the opposite sides of the cramping blades 4 are engaged with cutout portions 7 formed through both the side plates 3 of the main body 2.
To assure that the cable 11 is reliably press-fitted into the slots 5, a press fitting jig 14 as shown in FIG. 12 is usually actuated by an operator. This press-fitting jig 14 includes a press-fitting portion 15 on which two cramping blade relief grooves 15a are formed. As the press-fitting jig 14 is lowered, the press-fitting portion 15 is inserted into the crimp terminal 1 so that the crimping blade relief grooves 15a are engaged with the cramping blades 4, whereby the cable 11 is uniformly squeezed against the cramping blades 4 at a right angle relative to the longitudinal direction of the cable 11, causing the cable conductor 13 of the electrical insulative cable 11 to be press-fitted into the slot 5.
However, if a certain positional deviation arises between the crimp terminal and the press-fitting jig for some reason before the press-fitting jig is brought in engagement with the crimp terminal, there arises a malfunction that the crimping blades 4 are undesirably damaged or broken by the press-fitting portion of the press-fitting jig due to the foregoing positional deviation of the press-fitting jig relative to the crimp terminal. With the conventional crimp terminal constructed in the above-described manner, it is certain that an electrical insulative cable can easily be connected to the cramp terminal. However, when a certain intensity of drawing power is applied to the cable in the P arrow-marked direction (see FIG. 11), there arises a malfunction that the cable is upwardly disconnected from the crimp terminal away from the slots.